Rummaging Through the 2014 Media Guide

The release of the media guide is a major road mark on the long trip from the end of spring ball to the start of August camp. "Kids, wave bye to..." Preseason practice begins on August 4. In less than 3 weeks, pads will be popping in Blacksburg again.

Tech's media guide usually has a bunch of candid quotes from the coaches, and this year's edition is no different. It doesn't seem as if any punches are pulled. I scrolled through and here's what grabbed my attention. Note: everything written after this point should be taken with a grain of salt. The depth chart has an unlabeled disclaimer next to it, stating its current as of June 13, and is subject to change. In essence, it's the prologue to August camp.

The starting offensive line is comprised of exactly who I thought it would be, except for Mark Shuman beginning practice as the top left tackle. Shuman was a blue chip prospect coming out of Fork Union Military Academy, but hasn't been able to earn significant playing time in 4 years at Tech. Two springs ago, he admitted his effort level wasn't up to par early in his career.

"You know, my first two years here, I wasn't a big effort guy," he said. "But they're pushing me, and getting me to play at my highest level. That's all I'm trying to do. I want to go out there, show them I want to play and hopefully, that will be the conclusion, come [fall] camp."

However, a torn lateral meniscus in Shuman's right knee hampered his quest to start last fall. Both backup left tackle Jonathan McLaughlin (6-5, 314) and Shuman (6-7, 312) have size, but perhaps with the extra height, Shuman has a reach advantage. Or maybe Shuman turned heads during offseason conditioning. Either way, that's a position battle to keep a close eye on.

It's interesting to note that even though Tech has 72 returning career starts across the front-five, but only 23 are represented by the first group (Gibson and Farris).

Bucky Hodges is only listed a 6-6, which would contradict erroneous made up reports that he can dunk a basketball from his knees.

If I'm reading into things, it seems like Deon Newsome is poised to earn some playing time this fall. He's listed as a player to watch, and was described as, "A tough, talented player with a good work ethic," who, "Picked up a better understanding of the offense during the spring and showed flashes of big-time ability," that, "Needs to continue polishing his game over the summer to become an everyday player."

I wonder if Charley Meyer will be able to factor into the equation this fall. At ACC Kickoff last year, Logan Thomas stated he would be a major contributor at wide receiver. A preseason hamstring injury put Meyer behind the eight-ball.

I'm not telling you anything new when I say tailback and quarterback are the two positions on the offense with the most unknowns. Both Shane Beamer and Scot Loeffler noted how they each plan to settle their respective pecking orders.

"We've got a top three coming out of spring at tailback," Shane Beamer said, "And we want those top guys working with the first-group offensive line [in August], so they'll get the majority of the work. Then the rest of the guys will work with the next group."

Trey Edmunds, J.C. Coleman, and Marshawn Williams are listed as the first three guys on the depth chart. It seems like Joel Caleb, Shai McKenzie, and Chris Mangus will have to make the most of their minority of snaps and dazzle the coaches to supplant someone from the top group.

"We've got a lot of work to do to get where we need to be at the quarterback position," Scot Loeffer said. He continued, "You can't rep five guys. I'd like to get down to two guys who I think have a shot and rep them to death and see where this thing goes. We want a guy who can first throw the football, but not just throw the ball. We want a guy who can throw, extend the play, have some athleticism to run some spread runs and go from there."

As of right now, Brenden Motley and Mark Leal are top two QBs on the depth chart. If he continues to improve on his play from this spring, Motley figures to be in the quarterback competition until the end. Texas Tech transfer Michael Brewer and uniquely skilled freshman Chris Durkin will join the competition in August.

How much time will Loeffler allot the bunch before making the cut to two is the question.

The defensive two-deep is as about you'd expect it. The notable exceptions that I noticed were Desmond Frye and Der'Woun Greene as the second string free and rover, respectively. Frye's had experience at free, but Greene's played corner and free, but not rover. I wonder if this Coach Gray getting his backups used to different positions, or if this is where they'll stick moving forward. Between Frye, Greene, Anthony Shegog, Holland Fisher, and C.J. Reavis the battle for those two safety spots next season should be intense.

Vinny Mihota looks to be the fifth defensive tackle. He's listed at 6-5, 249, but it's noted that he needs to get bigger. Will he get some on the field seasoning at his size this year, or take a redshirt to learn the nuances of d-tackle and bulk up. Woody Baron is apparently healed up after post-season ankle surgery last year, so Tech seems pretty set with four solid DTs.

As Coach Wiles put it, "What weve got to get is more production out of our second unit. You see a lot of drop-off from the first group to the second group in terms of playmaking." I feel good about the tackles, but after quarterback, d-end is the position most in need of players to step up. Dadi's the only player with legit game experience, but he's listed at just 224 pounds. To mitigate the grind of his position, he'd benefit from someone being able to give him a breather. Ekanem, Alford, and Dooley are all promising players that I'll focus on watching during the open scrimmages in August. In a perfect world, all four become good enough to see significant playing time this fall.

Replacing Jack Tyler at Mike is a tall order, but Bud Foster is extremely bullish on Chase Williams' potential. According to Foster, having Williams focused exclusively on Mike, instead of both Mike and backer, correlated positively with improved play.

"Having him at one spot and having him get all those reps ... he played really, really well. He did a good job of getting us lined up and being fundamentally sound. Im pleased with where he is," Foster said.

Ronny Vandyke will open camp as the No. 1 Whip. That's encouraging. Of all the Whips, I believe Vandyke gives Foster the most flexibility in coverage. Given all the turnover in the ACC at QB, I'm giddy that Bud will be able to load the box with base personnel and dare a team to throw.

Torrian Gray summarized the status of the secondary well. "We were never healthy last year, but obviously the young guys played a huge role for us. You have a different caliber of players, but I think our depth would be able to sustain a couple of injuries if that were to happen like it did last year." His unit is loaded and he knows it.

The kicking competition is wide open. According to Frank Beamer, "None of the kickers have separated themselves." I bet my fake Internet Dollars are on Michael Santamaria.

It's a great accomplishment for the athletic department to produce such a comprehensive document with a relatively low number of typos. In fact, I only spotted one.

Two Deep: Offense

Two Deep: Defense